Double die expression machine for macaroni and long goods



J. AMATO 3,130,691.

DOUBLE DIE EXPRESSION MACHINE lFOR MACARONI AND LONG GOODS April 2s, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed sept. 23, 1960 y INVENTOR. .MH/V ,sw/770 Arme/5y J. AMATO April 2s, 1964 DOUBLE DIE EXPRESSION MACHINE FOR MACARONI AND LONG GOODS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 23, 1960 INVENTOR. J'Ob//V AVVATU BY ,7%

April 28, 1964 J. AMATO DOUBLE DIE EXPRESSION MACHINE FORl MACARONI AND LONG GOODS Filed sept. 25. 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. f//V Aff/470 y Arme/vn J. AMATO April 2s, 1964 DOUBLE DIE EXPRESSION MACHINE FOR MACARONI AND LONG GOODS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 23, 1960 INVENTOR. 70H4/ AVV/970 J. AMATO lApril 2s, 1964 DOUBLE DIE EXPRESSION MACHINE FOR MACARONI AND LONG GOODS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 23, 1960 '1l Il Illl m. @Fx

United States Patent G 3,130,691 DOUBLE DIE EXPRESSION MACHINE FOR MACARONI AND LONG GODS John Amato, Brooklyn, N.Y., assigner to Clermont Machine Company, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 23, 1960, Ser. No. 57,991 4 Claims. (Cl. 107-14) The present invention relates to a double die expression machine and it particularly relates to a double die expression machine with actuating cut-oh" knives to be used for the expression of macaroni, spaghetti and other long goods.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a double die expression machine which will serve to produce and express long strings of macaroni, spaghetti and other long goods in conditions so that they may be readily picked up by sticks and then passed through a drying and finishing machine or process.

Another object is to provide a double die expression machine of the character above described in which the macaroni or long goods will be automatically cut into strings of desired length, ready for application to a stick and ready to be carried through and into other processes.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed description set forth below, it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changes therein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the dough or paste material is forced into an elongated head having suitable extrusion dies through which the macaroni, spaghetti or other long goods is forced under pressure into long strings or lengths.

The strings or lengths are cut olf so that they may be picked up by alternate sticks passing with the knives, being so driven as to cut the lengths off when a proper length of the long goods has been expressed.

Desirably, the dies have two rows of openings along each side thereof, into which the paste material may be forced.

The cutting knives are desirably operated from opposite sides of the die and caused to alternate so that the operation will be substantially continuous.

This all may be accomplished with suitable cleaning mechanisms for cleaning oli the face of the dies in between extrusion operations.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modiiications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

FIG. l is an end elevational View of the extrusion head containingrthe dies, showing these dies in set by set relationship, with the knives alternately positioned to cut olf the strings of extruded macaroni or spaghetti.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic showing of the strings-cut-oif motor driving arrangement, together with the drive shaft and switch arrangements.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic end elevational view, showing the knives together with the drive levers and cams for actuating the same.

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view, showing the driving arrangement from one set of knives and the location of the cam.

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional View, showing the driving arrangement for the other set of knives and the cam.

FIG. 6 is a top elevational view of one of the die arrangements.

FIG. 7 is a transverse sectional view upon the line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a transverse sectional view of the die head upon the line 8 8 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic side elevational view, showing the extrusion die arrangement.

FIG. l0 is a transverse elevational View, showing the manner of driving the arrangement of FIG. 10.

FIG. ll is a diagrammatic plan View upon a reduced scale, showing the manner in which the dough under pressure is fed to the dies of FIGS. l to 8.

Referring to FIG. l, there is shown the die heads A and B which receive their paste or dough under pressure through the inlet conduits C and D.

Referring to FIG. 8, the dough is then fed to the chamber E from whence it is forced through the dies F to form the elongated group of extruded strings, as indicated at G, H, J and K in FIG. l.

The cut-off knives L, M, N and P alternately are actuated by the levers Q and R and the cams S and T, as shown in FIG. l, to cut olf each group of extrusions G, H, J and K when of proper length and in position to be picked off the knife which has just cut them ofi` and to which their upper ends are adhering by an automatically presented stick (not shown).

Referring to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, the dough is fed in under pressure through the inlet conduit having the mounting llange 20, and it then passes into the open space 21, from which it passes through the circular openings 22 into the oblique passageways 2.3, which open at 24 into the chamber E.

This chamber E has a series of upwardly domed recesses 24 with the lip portions 25 and 26. The chamber or space E is filled with plastic dough under pressure. The sides of the space E may be provided with the jackets 27, which may be filled with water of suitable temperature, having llow connections as indicated at 2S and 29.

The conduits 30 in the recesses 31 may serve for introducing the liquid into the chambers and these in turn may be connected to the external pipes or tubes 32 (see FIG. 6). The sides of the head are provided with the outstanding ear members 33 having the reinforcing webs 34 which are provided with openings 35 to receive the mounting bolts 36 (see FIGS. 6 and 8).

These ears 33 rest upon the cross-bar supporting memi bers 37, the ends 38 of which are provided with bolted mounting connections 39 on the side frame members 4@ (see FIGS. 6 and 7).

The dies are provided with the end plates 41 having key members 42.

The end plates 41 are held against the end faces 43 of the die structures B by the adjustment screws 44. These adjustment screws pass through the cross-bars 45, which at their ends are mounted against the wedge members 46 (see FIGS. 6 and 7).

The wedge members 46 fit in the recesses 47 in the bars 37 and abut the shoulders 48 in said bars 37 (see particularly FIG. 7).

The 'dies F have side extensions 49 which t on to the shoulders 50 (see FIG. 8) and have extensions 52 (see FIG. 7) into the recesses 53.

These dies have two series or rows of openings 54 (see FIG. 8), through which are expressed the groups G, H, I and K of the maraconi, spaghetti or other long goods.

The bolts 44 permit release of the end plates, which in turn permit release of the dies F when they are to be cleaned or replaced.

The present invention is most particularly directed to the method in which the macaroni, spaghetti or other long goods, after expression through the openings 54, is cut into lengths so that one expressed portion after another will be presented to the stick, to be carried into the drying chambers or ovens.

The drive mechanism for the knives L, M, N and P is shown in small scale in FIG. 1, with the motor drive in FIG. 2, diagrammatically in FIG. 3, and in sectional side view in FIGS. 4 and 5.

The drive mechanism as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 has a timer U with the lower timer mechanism 65, which controls the knives M and P and the upper timer mechanism 66 which controls the knives L and N.

These timer mechanisms with the push buttons 67 and 68 have cam elements 69 and 70 carried on the gear wheel 71 which is on the shaft 72.

The gear wheel 71 meshes with the gear wheel 73 on the drive shaft 74 and the gear ratio of gear wheel 73 to gear wheel '71 is such that the drive shaft '74 will make two turns for each turn of the gear 71.

The cam 69 will normally actuate the timer 65 to operate the knives M and P, while the cam 711 will operate the timer 66 to actnate the knives L and N, which move in opposite directions, as indicated by the arrows 75 and 76 in FIG. 3.

On the machine structure 77 (see FIG. 2) is mounted the base plate 78 which carries the base structures 79 and titl of the motors S1 and S2, having the reduction gears 83 and 84.

The base elements 79 and S0 are adjusted by means of the adjusting screws S and 86 extending through the eye members 87 and SS (see FIG. 2).

The shafts 89 and 91B will drive the belts or sprocket chains 91 and 92, which in turn will drive the sprockets or pulleys 93 and 94 on the shafts 95 and 96.

. The shafts 95 and 96 in turn will drive the cams S and T respectively.

The cam S acts upon the follower roller 97 on the arm Q, which is pivotally mounted at 9S on the bearing structure 99 on the frame member 1G@ (see FIG. 2).

These frame structures 11111, as indicated in FIGS. 4 and 5, are mounted on the plates 135 and upon the outwardly extending flange members 136.

The shaft 95 will drive the cam T, which in turn acts on the follower roller 101 on the arm R, which is pivotally mounted at 102 in the bearing 103 on the frame structure As shown in FIG. 3, the arms R and Q are respectively drawn against the cams by means of the ksprings i1114 and 165, which extend between the pins 1116 and 167 on the frame structure "and 108 and 109 on the arms Q and R.

The upper ends of vthe arms Q and R have the plvot connections 111i and 111 to the arms 112 and 113, which are connected by means of the pivots 114 and 115 to the downwardly projecting ear members 116 and 117 carrying the mounting members 113 and 119 for the knives L and M (see FIG. 3).

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the knives will be carried on the pivot pins 114 and 115, which have the depending ear portions 116 and 117, also shown in FIG. 3.

These ear portions have pin projections 137 and 138 which are connected by the toggle springs 139 and 141i tothe fixed studsi141 and 142.

The `pivot members 114 and 115` will slide in slots '114a and 115e in the side walls 135 (see FIGS. 3, 4 :and 5) and the slide members 16) and 161 are connected to the ears 116 and 117 as indicated in FIGS. 4 and 5 by the screws or bolts 165151 and 161a. The blades L and M are mounted onto the extensions 11351 and 11% by the .bolts or rivets lieb and i191 clamping 4 members 118 and 119 thereon as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

The pivot pins 114 and 115 are actuated by means of the springs 139 and 140 (see FIGS. 1 and 3) so that the knives or cutters L and N will be thrown upwardly while the knives or cutters P and M are thrown downwardly whereby only one set of knives will be cutting the strands in each direction of movement.

This is accomplished by means, of the action of the adjustable members 162, 163, 166, 167, 170, 171, 174 and 175 which are threaded through the blocks 164, 165, 168, 169, 172, 173, 176 and 177 on the side walls 135 upon the carriers for the knives L, M, N and P which causes them to be snapped from one side to another by the sprmgs 139 and 145 when they are at the end of their strokes.

The knives L and N will move together in the same position and the knives P and vM will move together in the same position since they are connected by slide members or rod members and 161 as indicated in FIG. 3, 16@ being connected to the carriers or ears 116 of the knives L and N and the members 161 being connected to the carriers or ears 117 of the knives M and P.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the members or carriers 116 and 117 whose upper portions 166e and 161e are secured by screws 161151 and 161e respectively to slide members 1611 and 161 and are slidably supported on guide blocks 116e and 117e respectively secured on the upper edges of the walls 135.

As a result, as the knives are reciprocated backwardly and forwardly in the directions indicated at 75 and 76 in FIG. 3, they will swing upwardly in the position as indicated at L and N in FIG. 3 or downwardly in the position indicated at M and P in FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the knives L and N will first move in the direction of the arrows 75 (see FIG. 1) and then will be pulled down by the toggle springs 139. When they have cut off the strings G and I so as to separate them from the dies, the strings will adhere to them at their upper ends, until they are picked up by the sticks.

In this operation they will move from the adjustable stops 162 and 163 in the ears 164 and 165 (see FIG. l) over to the adjustable stops 166 and 167 in the ears 168 and 169.

As shown in FIG. 1, the other knives M and P have been previously moved by the toggle springs 149 to lower position, removing the strands H and K away from the die face when they are against the adjustable stops 170 and 171 in the ears 172 and 173.

When the knives M and P move reversely in the directions 75 toward the adjustable stops 1-74 and 175 in the ears 176 and 177, the toggle springs 140 will cause them to swing upwardly so that they will be ready to slice olf another group of extruded strands H and K, as is shown in FIG. 1. j

In the operation as indicated in FIG. l, at first one set of knives M and P will move over to the right, rst being pressed against the face of the dies F and then being toggled down to the position as shown with the strands H and K being separated from the die face, so that each set of knives M and P will rst .cut olf the strands and then clear the die face.

Then the other knives L and N will be moved in in the direction 75 and instigat'e a similar operation, rst cutting off the strands G and I and then being toggled down away from the die faces.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and l0, there is shown an arrangement for removing the dies for cleaning or replacement.

To accomplish this, the end plates 41 are removed and then an ear 210 is attached by the bolt 211 in a socket 212 at the remote end 213 of either die F. This f ear 210 has an extension 214 connected to the chain 215 which extends over the sprocket 216, on the shaft 219.

On the shaft 219 is also the gear 220 which is driven by the pinion 217 on the shaft 221.

By the arrangement shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 it is possible to withdraw the dies from the die head structure B one die at a time and replace them for cleaning or other purposes.

The gears 217 and 220 and the sprockets 216 and their chains are protected by the machine frame elements and cover plates 222, 223 and 224. The plate 224 acts to hold the shaft 221, as indicated at 225.

The applicant thus has provided a convenient cutting arrangement for the strands of macaroni or spaghetti to permit them to be first cut oil and then lowered from the face of the die as their upper ends where they are cut off adhere to the respective knife until they are picked oit by the stick (not shown). The severed strands are sticky and gelatinous and their severed ends will adhere to the knives until they are picked up by the sticks.

Referring to FIG. 2, it will be noted that the cams also operate on the switches 250 and 251, having the projecting switch elements 252 and 253, the switch 250 acting to stop the knives L and N and the switch 251 acting to stop the knives N and P.

The apparatus diagrammatically indicated in FIG. 1l shows how the feed is accomplished to the double die expression heads and the doughy material will be fed from the hopper S00 by means of a screw conveyer 561 through the tubular member 502 and then into the tube 503 Where it is distributed by means of the radiating piping 504 to the inlets D, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

The heads B themselves receive the expression dies in their lower structure as indicated in FIG. 7. The switches 250 and 251 as shown in FIG. 2 will stop the motors when the cam contact elements S and T act on the presser heads 252 and 253 so that the motors will be stopped at least once during each revolution of the cam members S and T.

These motors will act to drive the knives L, M, N and P first in one direction and then in the other direction as is clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The starting switches 65 and 66 will act to start the motors when they are actuated by means of the projecting elements 69 and 70.

To summarize, the switch 66 will start the operation of the knives L and N in the direction 75, which will be stopped by the switch 250. On the other hand, the knives M and P will be started in the direction 76 by the switch 65 and will be stopped by the cam acting on the switch 251.

As many changes could be made in the above double die expression machine for macaroni and long goods, and many widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departure from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

,1. A long goods extrusion machine having a plurality of parallel die heads carrying central chambers to receive plastic dough under pressure and removable elongated shouldered dies through which said long goods is expressed in opposite parallel groups of strands, and means alternately to cut off and lower one group of strands at each side of the dies at a time, having toggle operated swinging knives to cut the strands at the die face and then to lower them away from the die face, and lever means to maintain the knives in parallelism at all times when in cutting and lowering position.

2. A long goods extrusion machine having a plurality of parallel die heads carrying central chambers to receive plastic dough under pressure and removable elongated shouldered dies through which said long goods is expressed in opposite parallel groups of strands, and knives alternately to cut off and lower one group of strands at each side of the die at a time, having toggle operated swinging knives to cut the strands and the die face and then to lower them away from the die face, said knives each being provided with a cam arrangement and timing switches to operate the swinging knives alternately and in synchronization with each other, and lever means to maintain the knives in parallelism at all times when in cutting and lowering position.

3. A long goods extrusion machine having a plurality of parallel die heads carrying central chambers to receive plastic dough under pressure and removable elongated shouldered dies through which said long goods is expressed in opposite parallel groups of strands, and means alternately to cut olf and lower one group of strands at each side of the die at a time, having toggle operated swinging knives to cut the strands at the die face and then to lower them away from the die face, said die heads having removable end plates and means to remove said dies from said die heads, and lever means to maintain the knives in parallelism at all times when in cutting and lowering position.

4. A long goods extrusion machine having a plurality of parallel die heads carrying central chambers to receive plastic dough under pressure and removable elongated shouldered dies through which said long goods is expressed in opposite parallel groups of strands, and means alternately to cut off and lower one group of strands at each side of the die at a time, having toggle operated swinging knives to cut the strands at the die face and then to lower them away from the die face, said knives having pivotal members with toggle pins and vertical spring members to swing said knives in up position when cutting the strands and in down position after the strands have been cut, and lever means to maintain the knives in parallelism at all times when in cutting and lowering position.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,627,297 Surico May 3, 1927 2,197,988 Tanzi Apr. 23, 1940 2,217,627 Tanzi Oct. 8, 1940 2,481,274 Ambrette Sept. 6, 1949 

1. A LONG GOODS EXTRUSION MACHINE HAVING A PLURALITY OF PARALLEL DIE HEADS CARRYING CENTRAL CHAMBERS TO RECEIVE PLASTIC DOUG UNDER PRESSURE AND REMOVABLE ELONGATED SHOULDERED DIES THROUGH WHICH SAID LONG GOODS IS EXPRESSED IN OPPOSITE PARALLEL GROUPS OF STRANDS, AND MEANS ALTERNATELY TO CUT OFF AND LOWER ONE GROUP OF STRANDS AT EACH SIDE OF THE DIES AT A TIME, HAVING TOGGLE OPERATED SWINGING KNIVES TO CUT THE STRANDS AT THE DIE FACE AND THEN TO LOWER THEM AWAY FROM THE DIE FACE, AND LEVER MEANS TO MAINTAIN THE KNIVES IN PARALLELISM AT ALL TIMES WHEN IN CUTTING AND LOWERING POSITION. 